Archive for January, 2008

The Intel e8400 has been out of a little over a week now and we????????re seeing a lot of overclocking results. So far, the results are pretty good. Those of you looking for a top of the line processor with good overclock potential need look no further than the e8400.

The cpu will overclock from 3.6ghz to 4ghz on the stock cooler. Personally I would only do 3.6 or lower on the stock cooler. If you want to oc to 4ghz or higher go with an after market cooler.

The cpu vcores have been in the 1.3v to 1.4v range for 4ghz. So expect a little less for a lower oc and a little more for a higher oc. Temps are a little high. There are lots of readings in the 60????????s. Could be a problem with the cpu????????s readings or the software. Or maybe these chips aren????????t as cool as everyone thought they were going to be.

If you????????re an early adopter, then it looks fairly safe to jump on the wagon. Personally I like to wait for the next revision and for prices to drop down. This also gives me the advantage of seeing how the cpu????????s play out.

There are a few steps that you should take when you are having crashing problems playing a PC game.

1. Make sure the game has been updated to the newest patch.

PC games sometimes have problems with a specific video card.???? There bugs are then fixed with patches to the game.

2. Make sure your video card drivers have been updated with the newest drivers.

Most of the time your card will perform best with the newest drivers.???? This isn????????t always the case however.???? Sometimes the newest drivers will cause problems with a game.???? If the newest games doesn????????t work and you have eliminated the other 4 options, then install an older driver, or try a 3rd party video card driver.

3. Check to see if your video card or cpu is overheating.

Heat is a main enemy of computer components.???? Heat will cause artifacts in your games.???? Heat will also cause the game or computer to crash.???? Make sure you don????????t have dust clogging up your fans and heat sinks on both your video card and cpu.

4. Make sure your PSU is powerful enough to run your video card.

Before you buy a video card make sure your PSU has the proper watts and +12 volts.???? An underpowered video card may have problems running correctly.

5. Bad memory may be making your PC games to fail.

Run memtest on your RAM to make sure it is running correctly.???? Memory does go bad and when it does it causes system instability.

If the errors happen right away, the problem is more likely to be your memory, video card or power supply.???? The longer it takes for the problems to show up, the more likely the problem is to be a heat issue.

As with all other computer components this answer depends on your needs as a user. If you are surfing the net and using Microsoft office, then a 250 gb hard drive will be plenty for you for years to come.

If you do some gaming, then it is suggested that you get at least a 320 gb hard drive. Games are not taking up 10 gb or more of space and will only get larger in the next few years.

If you store a lot of movies or other types of data on your computer, you should look at the 500 gb hard drives. These drives will give you the best bang for the buck in terms of price and storage.

You may want to consider getting 2 hard drives. It can be useful to have a smaller hd for your operating system and must have programs. You can then back this up and store the backup on your data drive, on DVD????????s or external hd.

Your second hd can then be used for all your games and storage needs. For most heavy computer users this convenience is well worth the cost of another drive. You should be backing up your computer at least once a month. And having 2 drives makes this a lot easier.

You should also look at buying a hard drive with the longest warranty. Hard drives are more prone to failure than other computer parts. A longer warranty will save you a few bucks if you have to replace yours because it died.

Here????????s a tip that the average consumer doesn????????t know.???? Buy your computer parts online.???? Most people go to Walmart, Best Buy or their local computer store to buy computer components.???? Sure they get the part right away, but they are paying for the convenience.

You will more often find the best prices online.???? Stores like Newegg, Mwave and Buy.com have good prices and are reputable retailers.???? Shop around and compare prices of these stores.???? Often one or the other will be having a sale or rebate on the component you are interested in.

Don????????t think that going to bestbuy.com will get you better prices either.???? You get the same overpriced stuff with all the hassle.???? Deals are these big box stores are few and far between.???? If you want or need something soon, order it online and wait 3 days for it to come.

For example the 8800gt at best buy sells for $300.???? You can get the same card from Newegg for $260.???? $40 savings is significant in my book.???? This is a common occurrence, as the markup for big box stores is high.

There is a lot of misconception going on with the ram limit with windows operating systems. Some people think the limitation has to do with Windows XP or older operating systems. However, the age of the OS has nothing to do with this. There is all kind of high tech reasoning to explain how much ram is recognized, but I????????ll just give you the quick cheat sheet.

There are 32 bit and 64 bit operating systems. Both Windows XP and Windows Vista have versions of both. 32 bit operating systems cannot use more than 4 gb of total ram. This includes the memory used by your cpu, video card, etc. Anything more than 4 gigs will not be recognized by the operating system.

So if you are running a 32 bit system and have 4 gigs of ram, 3-3.5 gigs of ram will be available to your system depending on how much ram your video card has. If you want to use all 4 or more than 4, you need to upgrade to a 64 bit version of your OS.

Keep in mind that 2 gigs is fine right now for almost all tasks. In the next 1-2 years, you will want 4 gigs. Two years from now you will start wanting more than 4 gigs of memory, which means you will need a 64 bit OS to use it.

I????????ve been asked a lot of questions about the new Intel Wolfdale and Intel Yorkfield processors. Basically the questions are boiling down to whether one should get a dual core processor or a quad core processor. Here are a few rules of thumb to help you answer the question. It????????s simple one you think about how you will be using your computer.

Wolfdale ???????? Dual Core CPU???????? E8xxx

- best for most PC games for the next 1-2 years
- more cost effective route if planning to upgrade CPU in next 2ish years
- most software today is optimized for dual core

Yorkdield ???????? Quad Core CPU ???????? Q9xxx

- best for extreme multitasking
- more ???????futureproof??????? if not planning to upgrade in next 2ish years
- best for video encoding and audio encoding
- future software will be optimized for quad core

There are only 2 reasons I see for getting a Yorkfield over a Wolfdale. The first one is if you do lots of video encoding. The second is if you don????????t plan on upgrading your CPU for 4 or more years.

If your looking for a gaming CPU go with the Wolfdale. Chances are you????????ll be upgrading your CPU in a couple years anyway. So save your money now and then get a quad core when you upgrade.